Ryan Poles makes another depth signing to the interior of the defensive line in free agency but not the kind fans are hoping to see
The Chicago Bears have signed veteran defensive lineman James Lynch.
The Chicago Bears have made another signing during the second week of free agency and acquired another interior defensive lineman on a one-year deal in James Lynch, according to Ian Rapoport.
Lynch was a fourth-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2020 NFL Draft and spent the last two seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He played in all 34 games with Tennessee totaling 579 defensive snaps across the two seasons with 45 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
This becomes the third defensive line addition the Bears have made this offseason, with all three being one-year deals given to veteran rotational players. The other two additions were Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street. It’s clear defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has a type when it comes to retooling the depth up-front on his defense and the front office gave him a budget.
Lynch is 6-4 and 295 pounds, fitting the usual size Allen looks for in his interior defensive linemen. What he brings to Chicago is solid run defense. During the first eight games of the season in 2025, Lynch was the Titans’ highest-graded run defender with a 68.2 PFF run defense grade. His other clear trait is versatility. Lynch played 333 defensive snaps in 2025 across nine different D-line alignments.
The more bodies up-front, the better. We’ll see how this room shakes out once we get into training camp but for now the Bears are adding as many veteran pieces as possible at a cheap price. For fans hoping to see a bigger name, it’s simply not going to happen with the cap space currently at the team’s disposal.
What does this mean for the 2026 NFL Draft?
For starters, the Bears still have a clear need off the edge. It’s highly likely the team uses one of their first three selections on a top edge rusher, perhaps even a first-round pick for the first time since Shea McClellin in 2012. As for adding a rookie interior defensive lineman, these three additions don’t rule out the possibility of still drafting a top interior option early in the draft to push for a roster spot.
General manager Ryan Poles is on record stating that the EDGE position is deeper in the draft and interior defensive linemen. We’re seeing that play out over the last two weeks with the Bears prioritizing adding free agents to replace the depth on the interior instead of off the edge.